TWO HOUSE HEARINGS FOCUS ON NASA'S
BUDGET

Congressman James Walsh (R-NY), Chairman of
the Appropriations Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, HUD and
Independent Agencies, announced at A hearing on Wednesday (3/15/00)
that he is not optimistic about the Administration's FY 2001 budget
for NASA, which proposes to boost spending From $13.6 billion to
$14 billion, the first increase since President Clinton Was
elected. He warned about this year's budget process: "Everyone
should prepare for a bumpy ride".

Congressman Mollohan (D-WV), the ranking
subcommittee member, Expressed hope Congress can provide the
proposed funding increase for NASA. But it may not be possible, he
explained, because the House is looking to pass a budget resolution
for FY 2001 that makes available less funding for discretionary,
non-defense programs than last year. If Congress does not receive
the additional resources, NASA's space transportation program will
likely suffer the most, according to Administrator Goldin, who
testified at the hearing. Shuttle safety is the NASA's top
priority, followed by the assembly of the International Space
Station. These programs would be protected, but there would not be
enough funding in the budget to also support the proposed increase
in spending for space transportation, Goldin said.

The tough rhetoric by the House members should not
cause alarm. It is early in the budget process and Republicans and
Democrats are establishing bargaining positions. The President and
fellow Congressional Democrats want to use the federal surplus to
substantially expand government spending. Republicans, on the other
hand, hope to minimize new federal spending and use the surplus for
tax cuts and to reduce the national debt. The Republicans are
taking a tough stand on the President's budget proposal knowing
they will later have to compromise. Because it is an election year
and NASA has broad, bipartisan support in Congress, at the end of
the day the space agency is likely to receive the proposed boost in
spending. Space & Aeronautics Hearing

At the Space & Aeronautics hearing on NASA's
human space flight budget for FY 2001, Subcommittee Chairman Dana
Rohrabacher (R-CA) said we have "turned the corner" on spending for
the space station and its budgets from here on out declines. With
more than 90 percent of the ISS now built, attention is shifting to
the assembly process. In FY 2001, NASA is scheduled to fly nine
shuttle missions, seven for ISS assembly, one to service the Hubble
Space Telescope and one microgravity research flight. Following are
highlights from testimony presented to the Subcommittee:

Joseph Rothenberg, NASA Associate Administrator for
the Office of Space Flight Russia is planning to launch the Service
Module July 8-14. If additional problems arise and the module
remains earth bound, the U.S. is prepared to launch the Interim
Control Module (ICM) in December. Assuming the ISS assembly remains
on schedule, a permanent crew will board the station by the end of
the year. Research will begin in early 2001, following the launch
of the U.S. laboratory. Mr. Rothenberg said NASA plans to hire 500
workers at its four space flight centers. =93Five years of buyouts
and downsizing, he explained, have led to serious skill imbalances
and an overtaxed core workforce.

Dr. Henry McDonald, Director of Ames Research
Center

Dr. McDonald presented the findings of the
Independent Assessment Team that was tasked to review the Space
Shuttle systems and maintenance practices, after the wiring
problems were discovered last fall. The report offers a host of
very detailed recommendations to improve operations, such as: A
formal Aging and Surveillance Program should be instituted, The
avionics repair facility should be brought up to industry
standards, Inspection technique(s) for locating corrosion under the
tiles and in inaccessible areas should be developed.

Ms. Roberta Gross, NASA Inspector General

Ms. Gross reported on areas of concern in the human
space flight office. Cost overruns at Boeing, she announced, have
increased from $783 million to $986 million as a result of recent
reorganization activities. chastised Boeing for earlier reporting
unrealistically low estimates of projected cost overruns to NASA
management. While Boeing is charging NASA $82 million for
reorganization costs, Ms. Gross said it is providing a net savings
to its military and commercial groups because of the
reorganization.

Ms. Gross said NASA's development of the Crew Return
Vehicle (CRV) "entails significant risk." The project, she
explained, is relying on a high degree of concurrency among design,
development, and test and engineering/evaluation activities and a
highly optimistic schedule for accomplishing development and
production of the CRV.

Ms. Gross said NASA has yet to complete a full-cost
accounting of the Space Shuttle costs and is understating the real
cost by "about $3 billion" per year.

Mr. Allen Li, Associate Director, General
Accounting Office

Concern about the space station, Mr. Li said, is
shifting from cost issues to safety issues. "The Service Module
does not meet space station requirements for protection against
penetration from orbital debris," Mr. Li said. A penetration "could
harm the crew and cause a loss of the space station." Russia is
planning to upgrade the shielding in 2004. The shielding cannot be
installed prior to launch "because they would make the Service
Module too heavy to lift into orbit."

Additionally, the noise levels on Zarya and the
Service Module exceed specifications. "NASA states that noise
levels should not exceed an average of 55 decibels over a 24-hour
period", Li said. However, the Service Module will be in the 70- to
75-decibel noise range. By comparison, the noise level on the Mir
space station is 59 to 72 decibels. Li said. study of 50 Mir
cosmonauts showed that virtually all suffered temporary hearing
damage, and some had permanent damage that disqualified them from
future space flights. A U.S. astronaut aboard the Mir also suffered
significant temporary hearing loss.

To lower the noise level, the Russian space agency
agreed to a plan calling for hearing protection equipment,
mufflers, barriers, isolators and quieter fans. However, it does
not have funding to implement the plan. There is also a concern
that wearing hearing protection devices could affect the crew's
ability to hear caution and warning signals and to communicate with
each other.

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